As a young fella I didn’t go to a lot of sporting events. In fairness to my family they were new to this country via England. Sports like hockey and baseballwere unchartered territory for them. In fact it wasn’t untill I was about 12 years old that I realized we weren’t living in England but rather Canada (joking of course, but those who grow up with parents from the old country, know what I mean)
I remember playing road hockey as a young lad; my friends would talk about guys named Gretzky and Sittler. Meanwhile, I just wanted to be Sir Stanley Matthews. Sir Stanley didn’t play for the Leafs or even the Habs, but rather Stoke City. Oh and another thing, he didn’t play hockey but football…ahem…soccer.
Other examples of my childhood:
– My friends ate mac n’ cheese, I ate bubble and squeak
-My friends ate pizza, I ate toad in the hole
-My friends ate french fries, I ate stargazy pie (google that when you have a sec)
I wouldn’t change my childhood for the world. I loved every second of it, but now that I have a family of my own, I can’t wait to take my kids to sporting events.
With that being said, this past Sunday I took my 4 year old to his first Jays game. The only person more excited than him was me. I described to him the atmosphere of the Dome: the crowd, the hotdogs, and how we may get lucky and catch a foul ball. The lil’ guy wore his glove around all morning and kept asking when it was time to leave.
The best part of being a parent is getting to see all the ‘firsts’ your kids get to experience. It kinda makes you fel like a kid all over again. He was even excited about the downtown traffic. We live in Acton so he’s not use to seeing so many cars in one spot (unless we’re en route to the fall fair, then it’s straight up crazy congestion)
Whilst under the shadow of buildings like the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre, the lil’one said “this is the best place in the world, I love you dad”. As I was holding back the tears, I soon realized I had to try and hide them from the dude in front of me in the throwback George Bell jersey.
We got to our seats; perfect territory for a foul ball. We got our hotdogs, a juice and a beer (I had the beer), and we settled into the game. After a few innings, we were high fiving and sharing a few laughs. As a father, I am sopping up every minute; I didn’t want this day to end. If I had one more beer, I would of bought season tickets right then and there. This was going to be our thing, and with any luck Rory will be just as excited. I was day dreaming that maybe when THEY get older, they’ll take ME to the game-me, my boys, and the Jays. We’ll have nothing but years of hotdogs and foul balls ahead of us. Well, as I sat there day dreaming, my son was actually dreaming. He was fast asleep by the 3rd inning and didn’t wake up till the 6th. Once he woke up, he had a good cry, heck, he gets that honestly. (remember, I was crying just an hour before him)
Oh well what cha gunna do?
tickets to the game: $80
parking downtown: $25
two hotdogs: $20
Your kid telling you they love you and catching a quality nap: priceless.
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